In the Qlik world, we are frequently faced with questions like:

• Where did this field come from?
• What applications (if any) use this QVD?
• If I change this database table, what applications will be affected?
• Am I creating QVDs that are not being consumed?

I’ve maintained a QlikView lineage application for my customers over the years.  I was never completely happy with it as Qlik lineage metadata is inconsistent and the critically important field level lineage was never available.

All that changed when I discovered NodeGraph.  Now I’m a NodeGraph fan and partner.

NodeGraph is an add-on for your QlikView and Qlik Sense solutions that allows you to explore, visualize and trace where your data comes from, whether it’s up-to-date, how it’s calculated, and much more.

NodeGraph scans both QlikView and Qlik Sense files and produces a graph of applications and data in a beautiful easy to navigate interface.  Select any node, for example a dashboard QVW, and lines trace the data lineage through transformed QVDs all the way back to the source database.

 

You can search, filter and drill in any direction;  from applications,  QVDs, source tables, fields, charts or SQL queries.

Where did this field come from?  Right-Click any field and select the Field Explorer to get a report of the complete lineage for this field, including all script transformations!

 

I’m looking at a chart that shows a count of Customers.  How was that count calculated? Where did the data come from?  In the Content view I can review the expression and see the lineage for fields used.

 

One of my favorite features is the one-click application documentation.  The tool generates a pretty printable/PDF document suitable for Auditors that describes all data sources, transformations, and expressions used in the selected application.

 

There are more uses and features in NodeGraph than I can cover in a blog post, including governance reports, application usage, GDPR compliance and testing.

If you are coming to Qonnections,  see NodeGraph in action at the TechLab10 booth (#603) in the Discovery Expo.

Learn more about NodeGraph at nodegraph.se. If you have questions or would like to schedule a free demo,  reach out to the NodeGraph team on the website or info@nodegraph.se.  If you are in North America you can contact me directly for questions or to scheduling a demo.

-Rob